slowly killed by a small beetle which often infests the bark. Besides, from its greater height, and the weight of leaves which it carries, the elm is more apt to be blown down by the strong gales which often sweep over this island. But there was lately an elm at Checquers which was planted in the reign of King Stephen, and therefore 700 years old. Of this fine old tree there was only left a mere hollow shell with two limbs, bearing a large head of leaves, the stem being 31 feet round.

Elm timber is, perhaps, best fit for use when from 50 to 80 years old; but these trees are often cut down before they attain that age. The wood of the common elm is of a coarse kind, but it will bear the action of water and damp longer than most other timber; it is used, therefore, for water-butts, casks, coffins, &c.

The wood of the mountain elm, which grows in the high districts of Scotland, is finer, harder, and closer in the grain, and from this kitchen chairs, tables, &c., are made. It is both tough and strong, and in former days was much used for archers' bows. There is a long row of these trees in Windsor Park, called the "Long Walk."

A third kind of elm is called the Wych elm. This tree, sometimes called the Wych hazel, is not nearly so large as the common elm, but the bark

is so tough and strong that it is often made into ropes.

One of the most handsome trees we have is the Horse-chesnut; the flowers of which are white, with a slight mixture of red and yellow. These flowers stand upright, forming a kind of spike. When in blossom a long row of these trees, such as may be seen at Hampton Court, is very splendid, so that great numbers of people travel many miles to see them.

The leaves, too, are broad and fine, spread out like a hand with seven of them on each stem; and the branches grow out so as to set off the leaves in the best manner. The nuts from this tree are not made any use of in this country; and most people think that they are neither fit nor wholesome for food in any way; but the Turks grind them up and mix them with other food for their horses, from whence they got the name of horse-chesnuts. The Turkish horses are said to be fond of them; and they are also eaten, when boiled, by sheep and fowls; but pigs will not eat them either raw or boiled..

This tree is very rapid in its growth. It is said that in some soils a large tree may be raised from a nut in 12 or 15 years, under which many chairs might be shaded. It is a native of Asia, and was

But there are some be here and there

first brought to England in the year 1712. We cannot, therefore, judge as to the age or size to which it will grow in this country; as none could yet be more than about 150 years old. very fine trees of this kind to found, one of which, at Burleigh, is about 70 feet high, 12 feet in girth at four feet from the ground, and covers a space of above 200 feet round. It, perhaps, contains from three to four hundred feet of solid timber.

The wood of the horse-chesnut is soft and spongy, so that it does not last long, and is, therefore, of no great value, but it makes very good fuel for the fire. The bark is of some use in tanning leather, and also as a yellow dye. The colour of the wood is white.

In winter, when its leaves are off, the horse-chesnut is not a handsome tree, for the naked branches appear clumsy. Before the leaves begin to shoot in the spring, the buds grow very large, and after the shoot sprouts forth it grows to its full length in three or four weeks, after which it gets stronger and thicker, but not longer. These shoots are often as much as 18 inches long, and by the time they are fully grown the leaves are also spread out.

As soon as the flowers have fallen from the horsechesnut, its buds begin to form for the next year,

and go on swelling till autumn, when a thick clammy juice covers them, and protects the buds through the winter from the frost. In spring this gummy substance quickly melts, and leaves the bud free to open.

The Chesnut proper, or, as it is often called, the Spanish Chesnut, because it grows to a great extent in Spain, is a much finer tree than the horse-chesnut; or, at least, this tree has been so much longer in England that it has had time to attain to far greater age and size than the horse-chesnut has as yet been able. There was a chesnut at Hitchin, of which the measure was taken in the year 1789, when it was more than 42 feet round the trunk, at five feet above the ground.

At Tortworth there is one of these trees which, as far back as 1720, was 51 feet in girth, at six feet above the ground. This fine old tree was known as a mark or bound in the district as long ago as the reign of King John, and was then thought to be more than 500 years old. It must now therefore be more than 1100 years old. From the crown or top of the trunk it divides into three huge limbs, one of which, five feet above that point, was found to be 28 feet and a half round. It still bears fruit.

There are many more of these large chesnut trees

in England, and we see that its size is greater often than that of the oak; but there is a chesnut on Mount Etna, in the island of Sicily, which, in its vast bulk, is far beyond any other known tree in the world. This tree is called "The Chesnut of the Hundred Horses." It does not now appear to be one tree; but a bush, as it were, of five large trees, growing in a clump. But when the roots are seen more closely it really seems that this was once a single tree, which has parted into five in this manner. There is no bark on the inside of any of the stumps, or sides, which face each other; and, on digging about the roots many years ago, it was found that in truth all the five stems came from one single root, below the surface of the ground. Indeed, the oldest men assert that in the time of their fathers the stems themselves were parted by decay, and that before this there had been but one huge trunk. The whole of these five stems now measure 204 feet round, the largest of them being 38 feet. Massa, an ancient writer of that country, speaks of this tree as having had in the hollow of its trunk 300 sheep; and that 30 people on horseback had often been in it at one time.

There are other fine chesnuts near this tree, one of which measures 76 feet round, at two feet above the ground.